Dungen: Tio Bitar

Given the lysergic aura of Dungen's music, it's unlikely Gustav Ejstes would make any more sense if he sang in English rather than his native Swedish. Fortunately, the mind-bending psychedelic guitars and hot Mitch Mitchell drum-rolls on Dungen's latest, Tio Bitar, translate smashingly well in any language. Coming on the heels of the terrific stateside breakthrough Ta Det Lugnt, Tio Bitar finds Dungen streamlining its expansive pop-psych attack with a set of jams that hit with more clarity and intensity than ever. The relatively compact space ballad "Familj" is about as immediate as Dungen gets, and while the second half of "Mon Amour" blasts off into the stratosphere, it rocks like early Deep Purple on the way there.